The Ancient Tantric Buddhist Dances of the Newaris, Nepal.

The ancient tantric Buddhist dances of the Newari people, Nepal.

The tantric Buddhist priests (Shakya, Vajracharya) of the Newari community in the Kathmandu valley perform the ancient ritual dances (Charya Nritya) as worship. Traditionally the dance is performed inside temple compounds, and is only seen by the initiated male members of the Vajracharya and shakya castes. The tradition originates from India and dates back to 7th century India and its intensely symbolic tantric rituals.

The dance is worship, meditation, and performance, and is still performed for important occasions. One of the few public performances is held on the morning of Buddha Jayanti, when five Vajracharya priests dressed as the Pancha Buddhas dance at the Swayambhu stupa in Kathmandu.

The Newari temple dance is meant to be a deeply religious experience for both the dancer and the audience. Backed by drums and cymbals, a singer chants out a sadhana, a ritual description of a deity recorded in tantric texts. Through gesture, costumed and ornamentation, the dancer acts out the words, describing the deity to the audience. Feet follow the rhythm of cymbals and drums as hands trace out mudras, precise symbolic gestures, which express emotions and concepts in a wordless language.

The hand's movement from right to left symbolizes the energy pervading the universe; their separateness symbolizes the duality of mind and body. Each movement has a symbolic significance: the tilt of the head, the flick of the wrist serves to evoke the deity; even the eyes must be perfectly controlled.

Far more than art or entertainment, the temple dance is a spiritual exercise, a moving prayer. It's also a way for the dancer to attain higher consciousness. If the dance is precisely executed and the performer's mind is perfectly concentrated, the deity arises in his heart, and the dance becomes an act of worship and meditation.

The Chacha Pyakhan (Charya Dance) is an ancient form of dancing, which has been performed by the Newari Shakya and Vajracharay priests of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal for over 1,000 years. This form is believed to be the mother of all dance forms Charya Nritya and is meditation, a vehicle of bodily and spiritual transformation, and an opportunity for audiences to experience a vision of divine beauty.

A Sanskrit term translatable as “dance as a spiritual discipline,” Charya Nritya is a moving mediation, tailored to specific deities, which enables the dancer to fully become the deity in body, speech, and mind, in order to benefit all beings.

The dance series seen here was performed at the Rudra Varna Mahavihara temple, Patan, by the Charya Dance Master Mr. Raju Shakya and his dance troupe.

The dance troupe can be hired for special performances by contacting Mr. Raju Shakya (mobile: +977-9841535665, e-mail: charya21@hotmail.com).